Monarch Butterfly

Texas designated the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) as the official state insect in 1995. Both the caterpillar and adult monarch butterfly are brilliant in color as a warning to predators (the monarch ingests toxins from the milkweed plant which are poisonous).

Seen soaring and gliding across the USA during the summer, monarchs make an incredible 2,500-mile migration each year to their nesting grounds in Mexico and southern California.